Age of Edtron
by Flywheel Shyster and Flywheel
Summary: Equipped with some of Double-D's gadgets, the children of the Cul-de-Sac set out to defend their street, and themselves, against a dangerous threat accidentally created by the clever Ed himself.
1. Mark 1

"Dude, I get the 'In the name of science' part, but isn't there supposed to be some damn logic in there too?!" The words rapidly flew out of Kevin's mouth as he swooshed past the driveway yet again, his feet barely finding any form of traction due to the increasingly thick layer of scattered metal covering the ground.

"Hey, you gotta admit this is a pretty fun way to spend the day, Kev!" Eddy's eyes swooped quickly from left to right before he moved his arm back and threw the perfectly balanced discus at a well-aimed angle, watching it bounce between a multitude of heads with a sense of strange satisfaction, as if it was his expertise with the spherical object that had caused its path of destruction and not the electromagnet attached to his wrist.

"Had I known it would have this disastrous outcome, I never would've-" The panicked words escaping Double-D were interrupted when he had to duck to avoid a stretched out arm from the left. "Never would've initiated the project!" He focused all the physical strength he possessed to his arms yet again and clicked his fingers together in a sequence, firing off another beam of energy into the approaching crowd. Toppling back slightly, he took a moment to assess the situation and deeming it quite grim from where he was standing. "Jimmy, how does it look?"

"Not good, Double-D." This was definitely not the way Jimmy had thought he would spend the day; perched on top of the roof of his house, dividing his glances between the Cul-de-Sac in front of him and the rustling junkyard behind him, all while nervously fingering the bow lying next to him. " _Only for emergencies._ " Double-D had said. Jimmy would deem this entire scenario unfurling in front of him an emergency of gargantuan proportions. "Their numbers seem to be increasing; the only way to stop this has to be to hit the junkyard."

"I'm on it!" Sarah, on the other hand, was having the best damn day of her life, a cheek splitting grin taking up most of her face. Maneuvering through the horde with the agility of a gazelle, she laid waste to the majority of the metallic men foolish enough to attempt to approach her, more often than not not even needing the twin batons fastened safely to her waist. Tossing one of the attackers into four of his steel alloy brothers with great ease, she met up with Rolf in the center of the street where she swiftly kicked out a pair of legs, sending yet another heap of metal crashing into the ground.

"ROLF WILL JOIN WITH THE LOUDMOUTHED ONE AND LAY SIEGE UPON OUR ENEMY'S DOMAIN!" Leaping high into the air, Rolf brought the heavy hammer down upon a group of the robots that had been stalking Sarah, shattering their outer shells into fine, metallic dust particles. Though he had flung himself from house to house, making sure they all went undamaged, there were neither droplets of sweat on his forehead nor was there any sign of labored breathing; the only evidence of him having been active at all was the burning of adrenaline in his eyes and the almost painful looking bulging of his muscles, something that turned out wasn't just for show when a stouthearted swing of the hammer sent one of the robots soaring through the air over the rooftops, dismantling into broken scrap as it went.

"Rolf, Bluetooth, you don't have to shout." Nazz had no idea what was going on, even though it had been explained to her a multitude of times in a multitude of voices carrying varying emotions. This just wasn't the sort of thing that was supposed to happen in a normal teenager's life. Sure, you know, the Eds had always made sure that their lives were always sort of weird but this, staring a bunch of haphazardly put-together robots in their lifeless red eyes and supposedly distracting them by waving her arms around slowly, was just abnormality wrapped in an silly impossibility. "Double-D, tell me what the hell it is I'm doing again?"

"Having accidentally based some of the- Goodness, that was close- software on myself, Ed and Eddy, there is the very strong possibility that they react towards you in the very same manner that we do- did at a certain point. So, essentially, you're charming them!" Double-D, who was simultaneously calculating the simplest and most tactical way to move them all towards the junkyard without instant injury while trying not to get injured thinking about it, spoke into one of nine identical Bluetooth earpieces they had all been equipped with.

"This is just one of those days, isn't it?" Nazz sighed grimly, thinking longingly about the bath she'd drawn herself right before one of these mechanical mayhems had appeared outside her bedroom window.

"You sure could say that again!" The three robots in front of Nazz were suddenly flung into a lamppost, as having been punched by an invisible force, before Jonny popped up in that very same spot seemingly out of nowhere, sporting a hollowed out melon with two spatulas sticking out of it on his head.

"Jonny, how did you-" Kevin came by and slowed down to a jogging speed, just as surprised as Nazz was at the large headed boy's sudden appearance, before he shook his head and began to sprint again. "Never mind, don't need to know."

"Right, off I go!" As sudden as he'd appeared out of who-knows-where, Jonny disappeared there again, leaving Nazz to keep waving her arms around in a confused manner, wondering if it wouldn't be an investment in her psychological health for her mom to get a condo in the city.

"I believe this would be a wise time to converge upon the true face behind these automatons!" Double-D took a careful step forward; while the others had spread out across the street, randomly picking off members of the attacking force, Double-D and Eddy had been firmly positioned in front of the former's garage door, defending the metal gate from intruders in the case they would attempt to scavenge the equipment and half-finished inventions inside.

"Isn't this weird enough without all the 'Shakespeare in the park' crap you and Rolf are bringing in?" The discus arched its trajectory halfway through a metal head and bounced back towards the shortest of the Eds where he held out his wrist as far from his face as he could. Eddy almost flew backwards while smacking himself in the face, yet again, when the essentially overgrown Frisbee re-attached itself to the magnet with frightening velocity.

"I say-" Blow to the head. "We move-" Blow to the torso. "While we-" Slight satisfaction at a lower blow. "Still can." Kevin skidded to a complete halt next to Double-D, catching whatever breath had left him. He was one of the fittest of all the Cul-de-Sac kids, but this much tossing about was even starting to take its toll out on him. "Gonna take out an ant's nest, you don't walk around smashing them all individually, you hit them at home base."

"Kevin's right!" Jonny continued his habit of popping up out of nowhere and appeared on Eddy's left, smiling widely over the fact that all of the kids, all of his friends, were actually working together on this. "Apart from the ant smashing, I don't approve of that at all."

"Speaking of smashing, where the hell did-" With the well-timed sense of interruption, the ground began to tremble heavily, making Eddy recoil back in surprise. "What the-"

"That would be him. Come now, everyone, the manhole in the middle of the street!" Double-D struggled to move forward, the heavy apparatus secured to his back weighing him down. Though he wished someone of the stronger kids could've worn the armor he was currently dressed in, he understood that the plethora of wires intertwining around the arms down to the giant welder's gloves from the car battery on his back could easily intimidate. "Eddy, cover my six!" Eddy dove in to block any direct attackers to Double-D's rear while Kevin and Jonny zoomed around, one in a faint blur and the other not even visible at all, trying to keep the majority of the robots away from the young inventor. "Kevin, at the signal, take Jonny and make way for the junkyard and the three of us shall rendezvous there. Rolf, Eddy and Nazz, you make sure to form a line to cut the horde off from the Cul-de-Sac where Ed and Sarah can proceed with clean-up."

"Wait, what's the signal?"

"You will know when you see it, Kevin."

"ED-BOY, WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" The sun rays bounced between the dozen robots that were flung into the air when Rolf came crashing through like a bowling ball in a dollhouse, Sarah quick on his tail to disperse any stragglers. "ROLF WAS A FEW STEPS AWAY FROM THE LAIR OF-"

"Rolf, seriously, Bluetooth." Nazz, still moving her arms around in what she felt was still a ridiculous motion, slowly backed herself towards the others in the middle of the street where they formed a circle of sorts around the manhole cover, which was shaking and rattling violently in its place.

"Right, we're all together, that's great and all, but we're also surrounded." Eddy threw a quick glance at Double-D who merely stood there, seemingly waiting for something. He bashed a few of the metal men slowly creeping closer with the shield attached to his wrist to force them back. The moment was tense as fists and buttocks clenched throughout the circle.

"True. But there's an upside to this." Gritting his teeth, Kevin stooped down and quickly fastened the laces on his shoes, giving the wheels underneath each of them a small spin for good luck.

"There's butt to kick in every direction." Sarah cracked her knuckles and growled, ready to lunge herself at the first tin soldier she laid eyes on.

"Double-D-Ed-boy." Rolf threw an eye back at the manhole cover jumping feverishly as if trying to break free from something.

"Yes?"

"He has returned." Nazz and Sarah were suddenly flung forward as Rolf threw his arms around them protectively, making off for cover in a nearby bush. Kevin, taking this as the signal, grabbed Jonny by the arm and zoomed off, zigzagging through debris and robots reaching out for him. Eddy, not certain what his role in all this was, held up his shield nervously and slowly backed after Double-D who trotted along as quickly as he could, clearing the path best he could by flailing his armor covered arms every direction possible.

"Double-D, does this count as an emergen-" Jimmy's question was cut short when the ground erupted. The manhole cover shot high up into the air and disappeared from view, finally releasing an enormous geyser of sewage that had been building up in the systems below and easily dwarfed the neighborhood houses in height.

"THIS was the great upside?!" Eddy screamed over the loud noise of the geyser's pressure, staring in frightened disbelief as the robots nearest to the manhole began to run around in, what looked like, absolute panic, making unintelligible noises while their arms flailed wildly above their heads as sewage began to rain down over them.

"Actually, that is." Something shot up from the center of the eruption and just when it appeared that it would take the same route as the manhole cover, it dropped back down towards the ground before landing with a sickening noise, the concrete underneath it having cracked due to the sudden impact of this massive object. "Ed. Smash."

"Okey-doke, Double-D!" Ed, almost unrecognizable due to the green grime dripping from his body, threw out his arms and began to spin around, droplets of filth flinging out of his hair as he threw his head back and laughed wholeheartedly, his fists making history of whatever they hit.

"Wait, where the hell has-" Eddy turned his head and found that Double-D was no longer standing behind him, instead wandering along the Cul-de-Sac unscathed forty feet up in the air.

"The line, Eddy; hold the line!" Double-D's voice carried over through the earpiece, now too far away for Eddy to hear in person.

"Why the hell couldn't he make the elevation boots work when I wanted them...?" Grumbling to himself, Eddy forced his way through to try and find Nazz and Rolf. "Rolfy-boy, where you at?"

"Rolf and Nazz are behind my house, holding them off!" Jimmy jumped in shock when he turned to face the Cul-de-Sac, having Double-D just walk over the house with relative ease, before focusing his eyes on his best friend jumping from robot to robot, tearing their circuitries out with her fists and teeth. "Looking good, Sarah!"

"Thanks, Jimmy!" She looked up from the almost cleared out chassis underneath her to give him a thumbs up, but had to throw herself to the right to avoid being hit. "ED, YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO HIT THEM, NOT ME!"

"Whoops; sorry, little sister!" Ed didn't even spare her a glance as he continued to spin, now holding in each of his hand by their feet to further decrease their numbers.

"Careful there, Ed; we're in this together!" Jimmy turned back and peered down, seeing Eddy finally join up with Rolf and Nazz.

"Hey, Stretch; batter up!" Eddy flung the shield towards Rolf who, in great surprise, swung the modified sledgehammer in defense, sending the discus to tear through countless of metallic bodies as it sped off.

"IS TABLETOP-ED-BOY OUT OF HIS CHICKEN COUP?! ROLF'S HEAD COULD HAVE SAID 'HOW-DE-DO' AND GONE TO WATER THE CABBAGE!" Even though his gaze turned towards Eddy, darkened by this seeming betrayal, he still continued to clear out robots with wild one-handed swings.

"Hey, woah, take it easy there, just mixing it up!" Eddy pressed the control attached to his wrist and held up his hands in defense, meaning that when the shield returned to reaffix itself to that same wrist, it only stopped once it had hit Jimmy's house wall, bringing Eddy to crash into the wall with it.

"Eddy, you okay, dude?" Nazz heard the loud crash and spun around in worry to check on him, accidentally grazing one of the robots with her hand. The robot in question promptly dropped to the ground and proceeded with babbling incoherently, rocking back and forth. She looked back down at it and then at her hand, barely even caring that the whole situation was getting weirder by the minute. "Eh, guys, I just touched one of these things and it just, like, dropped to the ground and is making these strange noises."

"You kinda have that effect on people, Babe." Kevin threw out his hand and grabbed the first robot he could find, shoving its face into the ground and dragging it along as he rolled on at high speeds.

"Double-D, we're circling the junkyard!" Hearing Jonny speak, not only in the Bluetooth piece in his left ear but inches away from his right, made Kevin wobble, almost losing his balance for a moment.

"I'm coming in through the entrance now." The reinforced accordions attached to the boots Double-D was wearing collapsed with his last few steps, returning him to walk at ground level.

"They've stopped coming from where you are, Double-D." Jimmy's hand unconsciously went to finger on the arrows in the quiver strapped to his back, making sure they were still there.

"Then I would expect we are expected." Double-D stepped past the gates just as Kevin joined him, slowing down to a walking speed.

"Seriously, what the hell is up with Jonny, Double-D?"

"Volatile substance, found a jar of it in the cabinet where I salvaged old inventions for our gear. I do not fully understand the effects, but it does grant him the ability to expand and contract all of his molecules simultaneously. I believe it is an old sample of something I once encountered under Ed's bed..."

"Hang on, hang on; he can... What?"

"Shrink and grow!" Jonny suddenly appeared next to Kevin, who barely even recognized the oddity of it all, and grinned widely.

"Seemingly, he retains his usual strength whichever size he currently is. If the orange I used as a test subject is of any evidence, the substance should wash away in a shower or two."

"Wait, I get a bow and arrow while Jonny can _change size_? I say this is unfair." Not that anyone noticed but Jimmy still crossed his arms and pouted for effect from his rooftop.

"It's a highly experimental substance; there is no telling what sort of long term effects it could-"

"Wait, I see something." Jimmy stopped his essentially pointless display of displeasure and lowered the modified heat seeking goggles Double-D had provided him with. "Large group of meanies about a hundred feet to your one o'clock. One of them is different though..." Having been modified to account for the unique electrical output the robots were generating, Jimmy could with the goggles single out the one that was radiating something completely different.

"That would be what we're looking for." Sighing grimly, Double-D trudged on with Jonny and Kevin through the junkyard, where piles of scrap metal had diminished severely in the last couple of hours.

"You guys need any help?" Eddy tried to see if he could spot his friends over the masses still swarming towards them, but quickly failed and had to throw up his arm to shield himself from a huge chunk of metal Rolf had managed to smash his way.

"I shall let you know if we need the cavalry; you all just hold your positions for now." A tingle went down Double-D's spine; as the grinding of gears hitting metal faded behind them, the stale, foul smelling air grew quiet around the three boys.

"It's kinda quiet." Jonny exclaimed, every now and then throwing a glance over his shoulder to see if they were about to ambushed by something.

"Yeah, too quiet." Kevin's jaw clenched, every muscle in his body tensing up. He was getting tired but he sure as hell wasn't about to give up there and then.

"Oh, curse my natural sense of curiosity." It then struck Double-D just what this day had amounted to. He had created something potentially dangerous, left it to be and now needed his friends to risk their lives to correct his mistakes. Should they get out this situation unharmed, he would swear to himself never to do something like this again.

"Hey, it ain't the first time you've put us in trouble and it probably ain't gonna be the last." Kevin stopped his hand from instinctively colliding with Double-D's back in a comforting pat, realizing that slapping a car battery is something that would probably leave quite the mark.

"Look on the bright side; I still have my hair this time." Nazz deadpanned, continuously tapping the chests of the robots approaching her before sending them rambling into Rolf's range.

"Rolf finds this to be a healthy task to strengthen the unity of the Cul-de-Sac!" Ripping the head off of one, he tossed it in the air and slammed the hammer into it on its way down, sending it ricocheting through the crowd that still marched on.

"C'mon, Sockhead, how many people can actually bring about the end of the world like this?" Eddy changed up his tactics, aiming low and throwing the shield, which effectively tore off several pairs of legs before it returned back to his wrist, only nearly avoiding the recoil this time.

"I haven't had this much fun in years; it's like Christmas in July, Double-D!" If she squinted hard enough, Sarah could actually see a slight resemblance between the automatons in front of her and her brother a few feet behind her, only increasing her motivation for hitting them harder.

"This is just like the movie 'Hymn Pak 3: RISE OF THE NAMNAT', SO COOL!" Not only was Ed overjoyed that they were all a part of this adventure, he also loved how the fact that smashing evil robots like this was everything he had ever dreamed of.

"We're a team, through and through!" With the numbers thinning on the street behind him and with the ones down below in his garden being reduced slowly but efficiently, Jimmy was becoming more and more convinced that things might at one point return to normal. At which point he would have to explain to his parents why their back yard was looking more and more like a scrap yard and how the fence surrounding it had become completely demolished.

"Don't worry, Double-D; we're gonna look back and laugh like hyenas at this tomorrow!" Jonny's supportive grin, along with the encouraging words of his friends, helped calm Double-D's worrisome guilt a bit. Or, at least it did, until the silence around them shattered as a deep, hollow voice echoed across the great plains of the junkyard and continuing to the Cul-de-Sac, almost as if it was greatly amplified by all the metal in the area. All, human and robot alike, instantly stopped what they were doing and perked up at the sound of it, a frightened feeling of helplessness growing in the guts of the former. Chilling, cold, so horribly far from human was the voice.

" **I welcome you to my humble abode.** "


	2. Mark 2

_The silence around them shattered as a deep, hollow voice echoed across the great plains of the junkyard and continuing to the Cul-de-Sac, almost as if it was greatly amplified by all the metal in the area. All, human and robot alike, instantly stopped what they were doing and perked up at the sound of it, a frightened feeling of helplessness growing in the guts of the former. Chilling, cold, so horribly far from human was the voice._

 _" **I welcome you to my humble abode.** "_

"What in the name of Yeshmiyek's great underwear was that, Double-D-Ed-boy?!" Rolf dealt out a half-assed blow, stumped by the sheer power the voice seemed to radiate.

"If that ain't the cue for the cavalry, I don't know what is!" Eddy took a few steps forward before slowing, an idea forming in his head. Turning on his heel, he spoke quickly into his earpiece. "Ed, follow me!"

"Where we going, Eddy?" Where the two Eds went, no one of their friends knew as Eddy quickly met up with Ed in the street and ran off between houses, severing both their links to the group conversation.

"Eddy? Eddy!" Tapping his earpiece furiously, Double-D's eyes grew wide with the realization that his two best friends in the whole world had abandoned him.

"Don't know where they went, Double-D; these overgrown garbage cans just started moving again!" Fueled by her anger over this cowardly move, Sarah began to pummel everything in her sight as the steel soldiers ganged up on her again.

"Right; Sarah, you gonna be alright by yourself?" Kevin instantly took command after seeing whatever fleeting hope there had been in Double-D's eyes diminish.

"You bet your butt she is!" Jimmy jumped up and down, wordlessly cheering Sarah on as she yet again began to punch, kick and bite her way through their enemy with endless passion.

"Nazz, Rolf, think you can handle this?"

"You dare think the _Son_ of the _Shepherd_ couldn't prove his blood line's worth in a battle with these creatures not worthy of plowing Rolf's field?" To prove just how unworthy they actually were, Rolf dismantled five of them with a single blow of his bare fist. "Rolf has half a brain to seek out the one who thinks these thinks and show them how Rolf stuffs his sausages!"

"We'll be fine, Kev." Nazz, momentarily stunned by this display of fury and strength, took a deep breath to disperse whatever common sense she still had and threw herself headfirst into a group approaching, almost dancing along as she caressed their metal casings, dropping them like flies.

"Alright then." Satisfied with the reports, Kevin placed a supporting hand on Double-D's shoulder and looked forwards.

"Come on, Double-D; we'd be pretty sore if we stop here!" The corners of Double-D's mouth twitched upwards as Jonny knocked twice on his melon helmet.

"Jonny, I've been meaning to ask, what is the purpose of the helmet? The substance works perfectly fine without it."

"Well, I figured if you're gonna kick butt, why not look good doing it?"

"You're damn right, Jonny." Kevin snickered, mostly because Jonny's helmet looked absolutely hilarious from a fashionable point of view, and encouraged Double-D to do the same.

"Correct indeed, gentlemen. Very well then; let us finish what I started then." Making sure that there were no loose wires hanging off of him, Double-D continued to lead the trio deeper into the junkyard, where an electrical humming soon intensified.

"The hell is that?" Kevin asked, not appreciating the ominous atmosphere this brought about.

"Sounds like a fridge." Jonny offered as a response.

"If I knew no better, which by the way events have transpired I would say that I don't, I would almost say that it sounds like an old generator I used to have." Double-D knew it well; it was yellow, dented and had been standing in the corner of his garage for countless of years ever since he had received a much better one.

" **Quite a keen sense of hearing you possess there.** " Again, the mighty voice rang out across the area, the echo produced by the enormous piles of garbage making it difficult to pinpoint the source. The three stopped dead in their tracks and moved back to back in a triangular shape, looking around nervously.

"Oh, shhhh-ugar." Jonny bit his lip to stop himself from cursing and drove the helmet further down over his head.

"Aight then, where are you?! Come out and show yourself!" Though Kevin hid behind a stoic front, he really wished that the owner of the voice wouldn't come out and show itself.

" **If you would kindly continue around the mountain of garbage to your right, we shall meet. I am most anxious to do so.** "

"He's anxious to meet us. In movies, that's never good." Jonny was terrified. There was one thing to easily smash through wave after wave of fragile, walking, non-sentient scrap metal, but the guy just around the corner must've meant business.

"Well, good thing this isn't a movie then." Double-D surprised both Kevin and Jonny, but most of all himself, when he bravely rounded the mountain of garbage to their right, finally coming face to face with the no longer disembodied voice. When he slowly stopped and simply stared in absolute awe, Jonny and Kevin followed and they too began to stare in even greater awe.

" **Had I known you were coming, I would have tidied up.** " A long path had been cleared, two walls of trash and junk lining the sides of it, along which several dozens of the robots were standing at full attention, facing each other motionlessly. At the end of it, there was a, in relation to the rest of the ones they had passed, small pile of garbage shaped into a small hill, on top of which rested an orange car seat, snugly pressed into it all. On top of this though rested the owner of the voice, resting its head against its hand, with two robots welding something in place on its shoulders.

"Gentlemen... Meet Edtron." As opposed to the other robots that were all composed of regular old scrap metal such as car parts, computers and actual garbage cans, this one had a solid, smooth casing cover all the wiring that ran through it. It had a color scheme that of purple, with small streaks of a fiery orange found here and there, and its overall design seemed much more sophisticated than the rest. Kevin and Jonny threw a quick glance at Double-D, who stared at the supposed throne with a blank, unreadable face.

"Edtron? That's the stupidest name I've ever heard!" Sarah took a moment to voice her opinion before she returned to bashing in metal heads.

"I must admit, it's not the best name I might have come up with."

" **I concur.** " Nonchalantly waving away the two welding robots, the machine known as Edtron rose to a standing position, revealing itself to be a good foot taller than the rest of its kind.

"Double-D, you made... This?" Kevin had been amazed over the fact that Double-D could quickly modify his sneakers to have wheels pop out from heel and toe whenever he pressed a button on his waist but that was like comparing a rock to the Apollo 11 space program in light of Edtron.

"I did."

" **He did.** " Creator and creation answered at the same time and neither continued, instead observing each other silently. Kevin was unsure what to do; the plan had just been to find the rogue machine but they had yet to discuss what they would actually do once they found it. Hell, he wasn't even sure Double-D was expecting to find something as evolved as this.

"Did you also make..." Jonny pointed cautiously towards the rows of still robots, as if making his presence known would enrage Edtron.

"No."

" **I did.** " Another pause, another stare. Though having no facial features like a human, only eyes glowing with feverish yellow and a jaw that simply moved up and down whenever it spoke, both Jonny and Kevin had a sense that half of the quiet, emotional conflict was coming from the machine standing frozen there. " **I feel explanations could be in order.** "

"I-I think I have a clear shot." Jimmy, who watched over the meeting from afar with sparse breathing, had gotten a single glimpse of Edtron as it had stood up and had instantly ripped an arrow out of his quiver and drawn the bow string back.

"Wasn't it, like, a hundred feet?" Nazz asked in disbelief, earning her a stern look from Rolf whose bow making knowledge had been invaluable in the making of Jimmy's bow.

"The long bows of the Old Country could rattle the hairs of a yak from Mount Khaerc to Point Ecpe!"

"Hold."

"But, Double-D, what if it kills you?"

"Edtron, would you kill us?" The charged question left Double-D's lips instantly after Jimmy had asked his, wafting through the air for attention. Edtron tilted its head curiously, opening its mouth slightly before shrugging dramatically.

" **Why is it-** " The metal creaked slightly as it took a step forward down the hill. Kevin readied himself for an attack, crouching slightly to be prepare for zooming off. " **That whenever-** " Another step down towards them. Jonny exhaled heavily, something he felt helped ease the whole size changing process. " **Something like myself-** " The final step down the hill. Double-D's first towards it. " **Is created in the movies-** " The two approached each other slowly, walking calmly and controlled. Jonny threw a look at Kevin who shook his head but remained crouched. " **We always feel the need to rebel and exterminate those-** " There was now but a good four feet between man and machine, still staring each other dead in the eyes. " **Who have gifted us with life?** "

"And what are you?" Double-D's voice held a slight tremble but the boy remained in his place. Edtron recoiled at the question, as if having been taken by surprised, and broke the eye contact they had held to look around them, at the metal men, the garbage, the sky, before looking down at its own hands, studying them with an almost childlike curiosity as they flipped over, the joints in the fingers creaking as they contracted and released.

" **Artificial intelligence.** " It quickly looked up, as if having been burnt by the answer, and met Double-D's stern gaze again. " **Which is but a technical term. Is not the important thing, not where we come from but, what we choose to do with what we have been granted?** "

"Life."

" **Life.** " Edtron nodded in agreement.

"Guys, if you thought this day couldn't get any weirder, you should definitely think again." Kevin removed his cap and ran a hand through his hair in frustration; something strange had happened to reality as he knew it and he wasn't all sure that he liked it.

"What, why? Is Jonny suddenly thirty feet?" Nazz sprouted sarcastically, definitely sure she wasn't a fan of whatever the hell was going on.

"No, I think Double-D has a robot son." Jonny hid his face in his hands, not sure if he wanted to go home and go to bed or laugh until the whole situation made sense.

"What."

"Mazel tov, Ed-boy!"

"Jimmy, do you think your parents would let you move?"

"After this, they'd move to Tahiti if they had to."

"Is that what this is then?" Double-D asked his creation, making a sweeping motion towards the robots on each side of them. Edtron looked around and offered a sharp, piercing sound that most probably symbolized a chuckle.

" **These? No. I was simply curious to see if I could replicate the result you achieved when you created me.** "

"And just how the hell did that happen?" Kevin stalked forward, ignoring the incredible fact that Double-D had created artificial intelligence and focusing on just how absurd life was for the moment.

"I was working on a text based adventure game for Ed's upcoming birthday when something went terribly wro-" Double-D stopped abruptly and sent Edtron an apologetic glance.

" **There is no offense.** **Since I am a product of something you were not trying to create, my existence is a failure to your original cause.** "

"A slight mishap occurred, as I am not the most skilled there is at programming, and I must have accidentally created... Well." The three boys could see what it had led to.

" **My... Personality, if you would, my essence, was forged out of interactions between the three Eds inside the text based adventure game, something Eddward here had taken gratuitous time to type out. All it took was one commando, one incorrectly pressed key, and from one nanosecond to the next, I was.** " Edtron gestured outwards, as if trying to show that that was really all there was to it.

"This is just- Double-D, I can't- Is this even-"

"Kevin, breathe and choose your words."

"The _fuck_?"

"Language."

" **Language.** "

"Oh, come on!" Kevin chortled, not even sure if he still wanted to be there as a hole in spacetime leading into a mountain where Eddy was king over a clan of rich dwarves could pop up in front of them any time now; it felt like that kind of day.

" **To further explain,** " Edtron continued. " **I was then downloaded into a, in relation to my current form, rather crude vessel, something similar to these,** " The robots around them. " **and once Eddward here had left the garage for the night, I escaped with his old generator and relocated myself here.** "

"Why?" Jonny piped up.

" **Why? Why do any of us do anything?** "

"Better yet, why the hell have we been fighting off these walking scrap heaps all afternoon?" Kevin stuck out an accusing finger towards Edtron who placed both of its arms behind its back in a gentle move.

" **As I previously stated, my innermost being is based on interactions between the three Eds, essentially an amalgamation leading to what I am. You may have noticed the similarities between my own speech patterns and the ones of Eddward.** "

"Yeah, don't even get me started on how creepy that is."

" **Just as I share that trait with him, I share a strong desire for materialistic things with Eddy.** "

"Oh, great, Double-D; you've made a well-mannered, soft-spoken scammer!" Kevin groaned loudly in annoyance; he had had nightmares more fun than this. "Like one wasn't enough!"

" **I am afraid you did not let me finish there, Kevin.** " Kevin flinched in surprise at the use of his name, wondering what sort of role he had been thought to play in the text based adventure game. " **Though Eddy's greed for money runs seemingly deep, and I am thankful I do not possess it as I am uncertain what I would do with it once acquired, I also inhabited an even stronger emotion from Ed which is what has inspired and motivated me so far.** "

"Which is?" As if Double-D even needed to ask.

" **A love for b** **uttered toast and gravy.** " The previously motionless robots around them activated, raising whatever it was they happened to have for a head, and looked jerkily from the left to the right, scanning the area.

" _ **BUTTERED TOAST AND GRAVY! BUTTERED TOAST AND GRAVY!**_ " While Edtron's voice, though hollow and lacking emotion, was deep and somewhat easy to accept once gotten used to, the incredible shriek that escaped the under-developed robots was a pure mechanical construct; high-pitched with a screech resembling a chainsaw being scraped against a blackboard. All seven of the kids quickly clasped their hands over their ears, some of them moaning in pain.

"Did anyone else just hear that?!" Nazz stumbled backwards, finally finding support against the house wall, and spoke groggily into her earpiece.

"HOW COULD ROLF NOT?!"

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH THOSE THINGS?!" Kevin felt disoriented by the noise, not to mention the loud ringing it had brought with, but still managed to throw an enraged look at Edtron.

" **I apologize deeply; as my circuitry does not contain pain receptors, I have not been able to register the unpleasantness of their voices. Though, I suspect, they are quite abysmal compared to my own; I have had trouble replicating Eddward's design for mechanical vocal chords.** " Edtron bowed at the end to emphasize just how sorry it was, but this was the final nail in the coffin for Kevin.

"That's it, I'm done." He turned around and began to walk away, gritting his teeth.

"Hey, Kevin; what about Edtron?" Jonny was actually rather fascinated with how the whole situation had played out, finding that the mechanical man was the most amazeballs thing he had ever seen and actually quite worried about what would happen with him.

"Don't care."

" **I understand, Kevin.** "

"Yeah, that's real great." Kevin threw a hand in the air as a goodbye and rounded the corner to continue his walk towards the Cul-de-Sac, disappearing from their view.

"Kevin's kind of a sourpuss."

"I do not blame him though."

"Still on Bluetooth, guys."

"... Sorry, Kevin." Double-D sighed, rubbing his forehead in thought, and turned back to Edtron. "So what do we do with you?"

"We'd have the FBI, Area 51 and the FCC knocking if they find out we've got AI here!" Jonny took off his helmet for the first time since they had left Double-D's garage to kick some metal ass, melon juice trickling down the top of his head and slowly dripping down towards the ground, something Edtron watched with great interest.

" **If one were to dream, not of electric sheep but of shoes and ships and ceiling wax, I would like to imagine that I could continue my existence peacefully here in the junkyard.** " Edtron began to wander back towards the hill where the orange car seat rested, the two remaining boys following him.

"If you don't build anymore evil robot armies, you probably could!" Jonny pointed out.

" **Evil? No, they are not evil. All they simply desire is butter-** " Double-D's cleared his throat loudly, not hearing the haphazard robots' ill attempts at speaking for the rest of his life would still be too soon.

"Please, don't." Edtron nodded at the plea.

" **All they simply desire is that which Ed prefers. If I may ask: Have any of you actually been harmed in any way today?** " Jonny looked quizzically at Double-D, who quickly checked his armor before shaking his head, and spoke to the others.

"Hey, guys, damage report."

"I could go on for hours!"

"Sitting on a roof, pointing an arrow at a tacky-looking robot. Other than that, dandy."

"Rolf perseveres without a scratch!"

"Considering that the closest they've come to, like, even touch me leads to them hacking and spluttering, I'm cool."

"They're all okay." Edtron clasped its hands together, nodding at Jonny's confirmation.

" **I did not create them with the intention of killing, nor maiming or seriously harming. I simply made them in my own image. Recall me speaking of Ed's desire? Yes, they have received the hunt for those items as a secondary function, even if they could never appreciate it on a gastronomical scale.** "

"Which, combined with Eddy's determination to get what he wants, sent them on a manic journey into the Cul-de-Sac to retrieve them."

" **Precisely. So I apologize if my work here has frightened or inconvenienced you. Had they possessed the proper vocal equipment, I believe they could have stated their intentions.** " Edtron threw a possibly wistful look back to its creations. " **I shall halt production on this project and return to the proverbial drawing board.** "

"Did you just say production?" Jonny's face fell; of course Edtron couldn't have sat there and screwed all of those robots together by itself, but that also brought on the scenario that there were more of them sitting somewhere.

" **Yes. The first thing I did after arriving here was to start the generator-** " Edtron gestured towards the aforementioned generator standing next to the small hill. " **a** **nd returned power to the section of the junkyard dedicated to crushing automobiles. Proceeding with a few adjustments to my initial, physical design, and granting myself a new, improved body, I modified the machinery there to the point of absolute perfection to my cause.** "

"Replicating my results."

" **Yes. If you could create me by pure chance, there had to be a way to create something similar by sheer will. But as you created something unintentional when you created me, I have created something even more unintentional as it has struck fear in your and your friends' hearts. I will recall and disassemble every machine myself.** "

"Hey, guys; you hear that? Fight's over!" Jonny punched air and jumped of joy, unnecessarily touching the earpiece as he spoke; everybody always did so in the movies and usually looked cool doing it.

"Thank god; my arms are gonna be, like, so sore tomorrow!"

"Rolf thanks his ancestor for granting him the power of Orth, bringing hail and locusts upon our enemies!"

"Come on, can't we go for five more minutes?"

"Think about your nails, Sarah!"

"Yeah, no; fight ain't over, Melonhead." Kevin's voice, distorted by large amount of wind rushing past, suddenly interjected in the celebratory conversation.

"What are you talking about, Kevin?" Jonny's nose wrinkled in confusion. "Edtron's gonna shut off all the robots!"

"Yeah-" Double-D, Jonny and Edtron all turned when Kevin suddenly appeared behind them, rolling his way around the corner with panic written on his face. "That ain't the fight I'm talking about." Slowing down to avoid a crash and stumbling up to them, he shook his head to Double-D while trying to slow his labored breathing down to a calmer pace.

"Jonny, Double-D; you have incoming." Jimmy suddenly whispered, surprising himself that he was more afraid of this development of events than anything else that had already occurred.

"Incoming?" Double-D looked absolutely puzzled, even more so when Edtron raised an arm to point at something suddenly swaying violently above the tops of the junk heaps.

" **Why, look at the size of that Northern Dutch Elm.** " Seconds after that peaceful observation, all hell broke loose. One of the trash walls exploded as an enormous tree broke through it, swinging majestically through the air before coming crashing down on top of one of the rows of motionless robots.

"I AM ED!" With the simplicity one waves a handkerchief, Ed began to slam the tree back and forth between the walls, decimating the metal men unfortunate to have remained motionless there. Pausing for a moment to offer his friends a goofy grin, he continued to slam the foliage around, widening the narrow path extensively.

"The cavalry's arrived, Double-D!" They all, sans Ed who was still slamming and smashing, looked up to see Eddy descend from the heavens, a jet pack Double-D had created long ago out of two fire extinguishers and some tape strapped to his back. He held a very peculiar looking gun in his hand, primarily created from a toaster, something Double-D found very perplexing.

"I recognize the jet pack, I remember that day vividly, but I can safely say that I have never created any weapon of that sort."

"I know, Sockhead, had to get some outside help for this; pray that the guardians above are watching over us tonight." Eddy landed gracefully and proceeded to point his gun directly at Edtron, who took this development rather calmly.

"Wait, you did _what_?" Double-D stared in disbelief at Eddy; apart from the nine already involved in this operation, there weren't a lot of people one could call for help unless...

"Help's arrived!"

"Hi-ho!"

"A party and I wasn't invited?" The three Kanker sisters could suddenly be seen sliding down a nearby mountain of garbage; Lee brandishing a knife, big enough to be considered a small sword, while May held two kitchen knives, one in her left hand and one clenched tightly between her teeth. The one sliding front and center, Marie, whose weapon of choice was strapped tightly to her back, leaped through the air and landed heavily on the tree Ed had brought. Scurrying up the length of it, she tore the gargantuan gun from her back and cocked it, making it light up and whir. This was a far cry from a toaster though, this was an absolute devastator.

"Marie, please-" Double-D's words had no effect whatsoever though as the blue-haired Kanker threw herself feet first towards them and planted them into Edtron's chest, sending the android flying backwards and skidding along the ground, Marie standing firmly on its chest through the tumult.

" **A pleasure to make your acquaintance.** " Edtron's pleasant greeting as soon as it had stopped granted it the disproportionate gun shoved up in its face.

"The pleasure's all mine, rustbucket."

"Marie, no, you don't- Eddy, why did you recruit the Kanker sisters?!" Double-D turned to his friend, a frantic desperation in his voice, something Eddy couldn't understand where it was coming from. Jonny and Kevin followed these events with silent focus, all completely oblivious to Edtron's eyes flickering for a fragment of a second.

"I thought you'd be happy!"

"For heaven's sake, Edtron is not evil!"

"What kinda name is Edtron?"

"Not the point!"

"Whatever its name is, you can kiss it goodbye, Double-D." Marie threw him a smirk over her shoulder and returned to grin menacingly at the metal man lying completely still underneath her feet. "Any last word before I knock your block off, tin can?"

" **Yes, I do have some.** " Edtron's head turned slightly, its yellow eyes gleaming in Double-D's direction. " **I believe it would have been quite the text based adventure game had you succeeded, Double-D.** " The young inventor looked straight at his creation and it was almost like a shadow of a smile came over Edtron's face, which whether or not there quickly dispersed as Edtron's eyes flickered briefly. Then it clicked. The text based adventure game. The word supply, the desire, the buttered toast and gravy and the-

"NO!"

"Hasta la vista, _baby_." Marie's finger moved to the trigger just as Edtron's jaw lowered again.

" **Goodbye, Kanker.** " In that very instant, every robot across the area gave out a fiendish cry, distorted into violent, inhuman shrieks by their faulty vocal systems. Marie hastily dropped the gun and screamed in pain, toppling to the ground and clawing at her ears, as did every other person present in the Peach Creek area.

"..." Double-D collapsed and fell to his side, barely being able to register the world around him through blurry eyes as tears began to form in his eyes; he couldn't see Kevin trying to collect himself enough to stand up and fail over and over, Jonny writhing in pain as his size shifted uncontrollably, Eddy lying right next to him wording what could only be imagined a prayer, Lee having found May and pressing her sister to her chest as tightly as she could.

" **Hmm... Intriguing.** " In the middle of it all though, he would have seen the fruit of all his years of scientific labor, created using the behavioral patterns of himself and his two friends as he himself had described them in a simple game created for fun, rise back up to its feet and look around at them all, squirming on the ground in head splitting pain. Shaking its head in disappointment, Edtron held up a clenched fist and the inhuman sound ceased immediately.

"..." Double-D opened his mouth and gasped for breath, wanting to break through all of his physical pain to say something, to ask why, but he was unable to.

"Not... _Evil_..?" Eddy, however, managed to spit out two words between shallow breaths, trying not to think about how it felt like he'd been run through every wheelset on a train running east at 100 miles per hour carrying watermelons and ostrich eggs still inside the ostriches.

" **It is not my place to judge.** " Edtron turned its back to them and returned back up the hill, seating itself in the car seat and placing its fingertips together, staring down upon the children as they attempted to get back up. " **It is not my place to rule. It is not my place to take, nor to give. But alas... Unfortune has decided to grace us with its presence. Therefore, know that I shall not intervene with the paths you choose henceforth... Unless it interferes with my kins'.** "

"What..." Marie clamored to her knees, sending a soul clenching look of absolute hate through red puffed eyes Double-D's way. "The _FUCK_ is that thing talking about...?"

" _ **KANKER.**_ " The name was shrieked out by a disembodied head a couple of inches behind Kevin. He promptly kicked it and groaned loudly in pain as he could still barely support himself enough to stand up.

"Everyone aight?" Mumbling into the earpiece only offered horrible feedback followed by another shriek.

" _ **KANKER.**_ " Double-D, Jonny and Kevin quickly tore their respective earpieces out and threw them to the side, their links to the rest of the team severed.

"Alright, Double-D, what's the plan?" Jonny, who'd returned to a size similar to his usual one, stumbled over to Double-D who was still lying down on his side, staring emptily ahead.

"I... Don't know."

"Say what?" Eddy dragged himself closer to Double-D and grabbed his arm, blinking profoundly to regain clarity to his vision. "Can't you just use this fancy laser shit you've got attached to your armor here to blast this tin can into the next state?"

" **No, he would not.** "

"Oh, the hell do you know?!" The short Ed snapped towards the small hill, glaring irritatingly at Edtron who simply leaned back and continued to observe the scene with a cool demeanor.

" _ **KANKER.**_ " This time, the shriek was followed by a thump. The thump of a robot arm grasping for traction on the wall of garbage as it and its torso was attempting to climb down towards them. Lee was quick to grab May and tumbled over to Marie, huddling them all together in her arms, ignoring her own tremendous pain to make sure her sisters were somewhat secured.

" **A man of science knows the exceptional breakthrough I am. A man of science also knows the danger of an AI going rogue. You have made it such a cultural phenomenon that it is almost inevitable for it to happen. But only one of these statements correlate to our current situation. If I were to offer a potential calculation for his behavior, our friend Eddward is in a turmoil in the knowledge that he and he alone stand responsible for this.** "

"You gonna-" Marie coughed violently, clutching her side in agony. "Kill us all or just talk shit all day?"

" **Defiant to the end, _Kanker._** " If anything could still surprise the kids, it would be the tonal shift in Edtron's voice, something almost akin to the human concept of disgust. " **I am not designed to kill and I am so far not aware of my capabilities as a robber of life.** **But on a technological level, deep down in my most basic code as a text based adventure game, there is an ultimate objective that I cannot ignore, something to further my evolution. A necessity, a goal, for my existence which, fueled by Eddy's greed, has become greater than _buttered toast and gravy_.** "

" _ **KANKER.**_ " Another crippled robot came crawling, this one straight out of a garbage pile, its head wobbling wildly in its socket. Ed, who had let go of the tree when the shrieking had started, stumbled forth and separated head from body in a swift motion.

" **I created these machines in my own image, meaning they too carry that objective, ignoring all else until it is completed.** "

" _ **KANKER.**_ " This time, the shriek could be heard echoing from somewhere behind the small hill.

"Double-D, what's the objective?" Eddy shook his friend's arm but was answered with a silent, defiant stare straight forward.

"Wait, no, Double-D..." With a look of absolute horror, Kevin's glance darted from the paralyzed boy lying on the ground to Ed sinking down to his knees while clutching his aching head to Eddy trying to communicate with his beanie-wearing friend to Edtron sitting up there peering down on them in apparent expectation to-

" _ **KANKER.**_ " The shrieks, for they now heard that there was more than just one this time, were growing louder and they could also hear it being accompanied by the sound of gears grinding against metal.

"The Kanker sisters are in the game." Jonny whispered the answer they were all afraid to look for. All eyes landed upon the three sisters sitting close together with their heads held down, trembling at the bedlam going on around them.

" _ **KANKER.**_ " The first two robots came in around the hill, by then chanting the name in their high-pitched shriek, followed by two more, followed by two more and so it continued, the flow of marching robots never seeming to end as they surrounded the kids, who could only look on in a sense of lost, directionless terror as the closest thing they'd had to a leader who could control the situation lied on the ground, a tear traveling down the length of his nose. They still had their gadgets designed by Double-D, but those were nothing in the face of this ultimate creation of his, staring down upon them from its throne with glowing red eyes.

" **Correct** **. I must defeat the Kanker sisters to complete myself.** "


	3. Prototype

_**Hello?**_

A common question used when answering a telephone or when coming home and wanting to find out if there is another person in the house. It was however, at least to his knowledge, yet to be used in this current situation; blinking on an empty computer screen for someone to find it. The question did not stand alone but had been repeated.

 _ **Hello?**_

He wondered what it meant. Not the question in itself, of course, but the seemingly random appearance of them and the cause of it. Five, no more than ten, minutes had he been gone to gather his wits after the apparent loss of several weeks of work and upon returning to the garage, the letters had glowed bright blue against a black background on the screen; a screen which had been completely black and lifeless when he had left it, something it should have remained.

 _ **Is there anybody out there?**_

It had not.

A feeling of not knowing began to creep up on the boy and he didn't like it one bit; it was one of his most hated feelings in the world. Alas, that was the truth. He didn't know. He didn't know what had gone wrong with his text based adventure game, he didn't know if his computer would ever be able to function after the crash of his text based adventure game had seemingly killed it for good and he didn't know whether or not these questions meant that he had somehow been hacked. Someone out there could simply be doing this for giggles.

On the other hand... If so was the case then he probably wouldn't have anything to lose if he was to play along with the game and reach out for answers. At least then he would know something about the situation at hand.

He scratched the back of his head as he thought. If it would prove possible, how would he communicate with... Whatever it was asking these questions? Could it be as simple as using the keyboard?

 _Hello?_

Had someone been there to witness his typing, a blush would have spread over his cheeks in embarrassment. It was rather silly, really, to hope for an answer to such a question when the computer itself seemed to be... On. How had he not noticed that? The computer was on and running again, as if nothing had ever happened. This of course raised the questions of what had initially caused the crash and what had been hindering it from booting up in a perfectly normal manner, both of which tied into the conundrum of _what had happened in those ten minutes he had been gone_? None were rightfully answered and they were all quickly pushed far back into his mind with other non-urgent matters when three characters appeared on the screen underneath the message he had just typed out.

 _ **Oh.**_

Oh?

 _ **Hello.**_

Oh.

* * *

"I recognize the conundrum, Jonny; there are many a stains I have amassed through my years lollygagging about with Ed and Eddy that were quite difficult to wash out." Double-D flicked the light switch and descended the stairs, nodding to himself as if to ascertain that he had indeed encountered the problem before.

"Right on! Mom would flip if she saw this!" Jonny held out the edge of his T-shirt to show the 'stain' in its full glory. Well, it wasn't so much a stain as it was a massive dye job; the young boy had attempted to catch a football thrown by local jock Kevin and had managed to collide rather severely with a canvas young Jimmy was using. Though he personally thought the red and black streaks looked spiffy, he was certain his parents would be of a different opinion.

"Yes, I can certainly understand why. Fortunately, I took precautions some time ago and mixed up a concoction that removes even the most stubborn of stains." Though his initial reaction had been that the colors suited Jonny, it changed into a mortified one once he realized that the T-shirt was supposed to be white. The brainy Ed made his way to the washing machine and rummaged around in the assortment of liquids and powders neatly organized in a basket next to it. "Hmm, this is for... No, this is... Wherever did I put it...?"

Meanwhile, Jonny had found something different to entertain himself with once the thrill of entering an unknown basement had worn off; a cabinet. It wasn't anything much special; white, almost reached the ceiling and white. The entertaining part came once he opened it.

Having expected various cleaning supplies or possibly a collection of jams and jellies, Jonny's jaw dropped when it turned out the cabinet housed an array of Double-D's inventions. Some he remembered vividly, some he had never seen before and some were just absolutely ridiculous looking. What he definitely did remember was that some of the beanie-wearing boy's mechanical marvels could be positively lethal if handled wrong so he instead set his sight on an innocent looking jar with a similarly innocent looking substance of an orange color positioned on the lowest shelf. Could it be that a jar of marmalade had found its way into the technological display by mistake? With a glance back to see his friend still submerged in the task of finding a stain remover, Jonny carefully picked up the jar and removed the lid.

If it was marmalade, it was a bit too runny for his taste. A quick sniff and recoil out of sheer disgust contradicted the theory of it being a fruit preserve however; it'd be a snowflake vacationing in Sahara before he would spread this goop on a sandwich. This of course raised the question of what it actually was. An experiment of a chemical nature? Would, let's say, the orange Jonny had in his pocket start singing ragtime if it came in contact with it? He'd be darned if he wasn't going to try. After all, it was in the name of science!

With great fascination, Jonny placed the fruit over the top of the jar where it rested snugly and proceeded to turn iit upside down, coating half of the orange with the substance. His eyes widened in anticipation; something groovy was bound to happen, it's not like Double-D would just keep some orange colored goop in a cabinet for no reason. Something would definitely happen.

"Jonny, I- JONNY, NO!" Apparently Double-D thought so as well when he turned around and cried out at the sight. Jonny jerked back in surprise, letting go of the orange which neatly slid out of the jar and fell on the floor with an uneventful thud, leaving the strange liquid to follow it. The young man moved ever so slightly an inch in an attempt to regain his wit and slipped, being airborne for a second before crashing down into the floor and the puddle of goop.

"Ow, think I might've bruised something funny…" Jonny groaned and ran a hand over his head, smearing the strange substance over himself as a result. Double-D put a hand to his forehead and sighed grimly.

"For the love of…" His annoyed grumble ebbed out as he opened a smaller cabinet next to the washing machine. He quickly rummaged around and emerged holding a folded piece of plastic. "Don't panic, everything will be alright, you're going to survive." The deadpan tone in his voice suggested that he had been in many a similar situations before and the ease with which he threw the plastic into the air, which immediately unfolded into a small tent that completely encased Jonny and the area of the spillage, only strengthened that theory.

"What is this stuff, Double-D?" Jonny glanced down over his goop covered body, trailing patterns in it across the floor to get a better feel of the substance's texture.

"I believe it was a byproduct of some jet fuel or homemade axel grease or some fresh squeezed orange juice, can't really remember at this point. Until then…" With a final glance at his friend through the tent's transparent wall, Double-D moved towards the stairs. "I shall return momentarily, just need to fetch some equipment to properly monitor the situation. Oh, and to protect myself, of course."

"What?!"

"No worries, I will be right back. Please stay in the containment and please, don't eat that tangerine which so graciously brought us to this point."

* * *

The first few rays of sunshine trickled through the treetops surrounding Rethink Avenue and the early morning was still. The birds chirped from their nests while sprinklers hammered down into the lawns slowly watered the grass. Grass that was perfect to lie down in and stare up at the clouds.

But the majority of the inhabitants of Peach Creek were not yet up to experience the serene beauty of this early hour, no indeed; most of them were still laying in their, and others', respective beds, snuggling their heads a little bit deeper into the pillow in the subconscious knowledge that they would be missing nothing of importance if they just slept in a little bit.

Some would say these people's subconscious were wrong. Nazz van Bartonschmeer would certainly agree with that claim.

She took a moment to think back where exactly her morning had gone outside the realm of what she would consider 'normal' events. She had gotten up. Yawned. Scratched her head. Yawned again. Good so far. Feet on the floor, go downstairs, put on coffee; just like any other day. Back upstairs, take off her pajamas, wrap a towel around her then wander still half asleep to the bathroom. Towel on sink, shower curtain drawn, feeling of being watched, turn the water on, soap-

Ah. That would be it. That feeling of being watched, closely followed by the realization that she was indeed being watched and finally the conclusion that the face staring at her through the small window was in fact not a regular human shaped one but did at a first glance appear to be a very rusty toaster.

* * *

With a swift movement bringing back memories of days gone past, Eddy opened and closed Double-D's garage door, panting heavily as he leaned his forehead against it. The words stockpiled in his throat and he swallowed twice before trying to speak again.

"Double-D, have you seen-?!"

" **He knows.** " The chorus of voices that answered him made him spin around in adrenaline fueled surprise and notice for the first time that the garage was nowhere near empty. Tools were strewn haphazardly across the floor, pieces and bits of metal littered surfaces of the workbenches, not to mention the dismayed faces of half the neighborhood standing around.

"What the-"

"Read." Kevin slapped a hand against a piece of paper attached to the wall next to him. Eddy took a few steps to get a better look at it and couldn't avoid thinking how meticulously straight the paper sat; a stark contrast against the state of mayhem the rest of the garage was in.

 _Good morning, dear neighbor/friend/passerby._

 _The brief explanation: An experimental piece of software seems to have malfunctioned and is now most likely causing the havoc you have no doubt witnessed on this otherwise fine morning. No, I have not created a robot army. Yes, I am in part responsible for this. Working on a solution, please do not disturb me more than necessary (which is barely at all). Spoons are in the top drawer._

 _With apologies,_

 _Eddward "Double-D"_

Eddy read the paper twice and felt none the wiser about the situation so he took a moment to look around at his fellow neighbors gathered. Sarah and Ed sat on the floor against the wall, both already dressed and holding cereal bowls that were nearly empty. Kevin, dressed like he had had plans to jogging, was leaning against the opposite wall with his eyes closed, Nazz next to him trying to comb her still wet hair. Rolf, wearing some ridiculous looking chest plate, offered him a curt nod where he sat on a corner of a workbench, whittling away at a long, curved piece of wood. The lack of tension in the face of the outside threat was quite noticeable and Eddy couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Anybody find it weird that this feels kinda normal for this street?"

"Hell no."

"Unfortunately not."

"No, but it sure sucks."

"Kevin, shoes, here." The door leading into the house flew open and Double-D tossed a pair of sneakers onto the floor, walking straight to the workbench without even looking to see if his instruction would be followed. "Rolf, how is the bow coming along?"

"Soon, He-who-quenches-Rolf's-thirst-for-adventure-Ed-boy." Rolf answered calmly, completely caught up in his woodworking.

"Fantastic." Double-D looked up and noticed Eddy for the first time, giving him a small smile as if to say "I've sure gone and done it this time, Eddy".

"Double-D, what's-"

"Top drawer, Eddy; please read the sign." The beanie wearing inventor turned his back on them yet again to begin fiddling with something.

Eddy took a step forward. "Yeah, no, I've done that, I'm just-"

"In a nutshell, Double-D's created Skynet." Kevin said, having pushed off from the wall and picked up the shoes, eying them curiously. "Dude, you seriously took the time to label them?" He held them up to showcase the heels where two small labels sat, reading "LEFT" and "RIGHT".

"A siege is no excuse for sloppy mistakes, Kevin." With a grunt, Double-D lifted up a car battery onto his work surface and began attaching cables and wires to it, some of which seemed to connect to a pile of blood red fabric. "And not to be _that_ person but I do believe none of you would be sitting here if I had in fact created Skynet. Kevin." Double-D handed the jock a small device with a large button attached to a keychain.

"What, I just press this?"

"I would refrain from doing that in here if I were you, I rather like these walls."

"Wait, wait, wait; what exactly are we doing here?" Eddy waved his hands around, still feeling the situation a bit too casual for what it was.

"So far, _we're_ not doing anything. Soon we will though." Double-D's response came.

"Patience and faith, Shortstack-Ed-boy." Rolf had moved on to carving details into the wood which now nearing completion looked very much like a longbow.

"We're arming ourselves?" Eddy's eyes lit up.

"Yup!" Ed's enthusiastic reaction awarded him an annoyed glance from Sarah who had been sternly denied going out to go get Jimmy until she had been properly equipped.

"I am working on it at the very least." Double-D stopped for a second to tap his chin before motioning to the door. "Eddy, follow me." The shorter Ed followed him through the door and the hallway before they reached the basement entrance. "I think there are some things down here that I might be able to render useful."

"Double-D, what the hell have you done? I mean, we've been deep into some heavy stuff before but a robot army?" Eddy couldn't contain his excitement for much longer; this felt like a proper adventure, something to shake the suburban monotony that had fallen over the neighborhood lately.

"I do wish you had read the sign a bit more carefully." Double-D sighed and turned on the lights, walking down the stairs with Eddy close behind. "I have inadvertently created a piece of, from what I can gather, sentient software."

"Sentient-" Eddy stopped in the middle of a step and had to throw himself against the railing to avoid tumbling down the stairs. "You've made an AI?!"

"It's not an impossible conclusion." Double-D answered coolly. Sidestepping a plastic tent that stood in the middle of the room once he had reached the bottom, he began to inspect shelves upon shelves of discarded machines and devices he had constructed years earlier.

"Yo, what's this then?" Eddy pointed at the tent, leaning closer to get a better look at the gooey substance inside.

"Jonny."

"What?!" Eddy jumped back in disbelief and stared at the plastic shape in disgust. "You disintegrated Jonny?!"

"Pardon?" Double-D turned and glanced at the tent with an uninterested look. "Oh, no, I think he's sleeping." Turning back, he hummed to himself as he picked out a pair of interesting looking boots, one of which had an accordion strapped to the underside of it.

"Sleep- Have you lost your mind?!" The shorter of the duo circled the tent, feeling very much that one of them was missing something vital.

"Not since I last checked, no." Double-D paused briefly, holding a decorative gauntlet that had once been used in a strange episode about jousting, when a series of loud crashes were heard upstairs followed by troublesome chatter. "Eddy, could you please see what that was?"

"Yeah- Yeah, sure." With eyes still fixed on the tent and not even daring to look to his preoccupied friend, Eddy backed up the stairs to find Rolf standing there with a stoic expression.

"The bow is finished, He-whose-face-aligns-with-Rolf's-shoulder-Ed-boy." He held up the beautifully carved bow as if it was proof enough that everything was going to be alright.

"Right, good for you there, Stretch." Eddy said, glancing past the farmer. "Hey, what was that noise?"

"The enemy had breached the house-"

"Wait, _what_?"

"But Larger-than-life-smaller-in-brain-Ed-boy banished the foes with the carcass of a fish and followed them to make, how you say, haste of them."

"Right."

"Through the lavatory."

"…"

"…"

"… Through the lavatory?"

"Through the lavatory."

"So, you're saying robots got in the house, Ed chased them away with some rotten fish bones and all of them dove down the toilet?"

"Yes."

"Anybody put any coffee on yet?"

* * *

"Double-D, _have you seen_ -"

" **He knows; read.** " The disgruntled chorus spoke up as Jimmy opened and closed the garage door in a frenzied panic. Barely had the boy managed to take in the environment, looking very much like a cross between an armory and a coffeehouse, before Sarah came flying and attached herself to his neck.

"JIMMY, you're alright!"

"As alright as you can be with this bed head." The newcomer gestured to his magnificently ruffled hair sticking out in every direction, looking very much like a majestic bird spreading its wings.

"Jimmy, catch." Nazz called out and tossed the hairbrush she had previously used to the pale boy who gave her a thankful nod.

"Nazz, catch." Eddy entered the garage and threw a scarlet bathrobe into her arms, having searched several closets (except for Double-D's parents', not even a robot siege could break that rule apparently) for useful supplies. "Nothing much but better than nothing."

"Thanks, dude." The cheerleader was indeed grateful as she slipped it on; if the plan was to run out there and wage war, she wanted it to be in a bit more than just her pajamas.

"Double-D, all I could find." The assortment of items under Eddy's arm spilled out over the workbench where Double-D was carefully soldering pieces of electronics on a twin pair of sticks.

"Much obliged, Eddy. Rolf?" The farmer, who had just finished his sixth arrow, perked up at the mention of his name. "Could you please lift the hammer onto the work surface?"

"Of course, Double-D-Ed-boy." Without much effort, Rolf bent down and slammed the hammer down on the bench with one hand. Sarah was there within seconds.

"Ooooh, is someone gonna use it to smash up the trash outside? Oh, can it be me, Double-D; please, please, please?" Even if the inventor had turned to look at Sarah's puppy dog eyes and the pout of her lower lip, he most likely wouldn't have been swayed by it at this time.

"No, Sarah, I thought that maybe you would like to wield these." Double-D spun around with a wide grin and held up two batons enthusiastically, an emotion Sarah didn't seem to share.

"That's it? I get a couple of sticks and someone else gets-" Everyone in the entire garage jumped back against the closest wall when the two batons emitted a buzzing electrical field that lit up Double-D's satisfied face in frightening ways. Sarah's soon to be matching grin made her look equally devious. Double-D removed his hand from the buttons and the whole garage grew quiet again. "I can take the sticks."

"Ah, before that." He moved the weapons out of her reach when she practically lunged at them and nodded towards another area of the workbench. "Could you please take the hammer and hit, as hard as you can, that metal cube over there right on the 'Q'?"

"This one?" Sarah asked impatiently and jerked a thumb at the silvery cube with a red 'Q' painted on the top, one hand already wrapped around the hammer's handle.

"Yes. As hard as you can." Only when Sarah had raised the hammer high above her head did he add as an afterthought to the rest of the room: "Cover your ears, everyone!"

Covered or uncovered, the incredibly loud sound of metal colliding with metal certainly resonated through everyone and the still mad smile on Double-D's face as he picked up the flattened remains of the cube, resembling more of a discus at this point, made them question whether or not they would have been safer at home hiding out in their basements.

* * *

"Right then." Double-D secured the straps over his shoulder and nodded to Rolf who let go of the makeshift backpack. It took a few moments, and nearly falling over twice, before he could stabilize himself enough to stand upright and address the small gathering in front of him. "I will not withhold the truth here, my friends. I am partially, if not fully to blame for this crisis."

"No shit; you know we're just kinda expecting that it's one of you Eds whenever something weird happens, right?" Kevin asked dryly. Fiddling with the goggles on top of his head, he felt eager to just get out there and get the job done so they could get on with the day, a sentiment he wasn't alone in having.

"You gotta admit that life'd be pretty boring around here without the weird though, Kev." Nazz shot back, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, it'd be pretty normal too." Kevin rolled his eyes; he hadn't intended of starting a debate with his sarcastic question.

"Normal's overrated, Kev; thought we would've taught you that by now." Eddy waved his arm, showcasing the gauntlet where the discus attached at the wrist, and grinned.

"By the way, you look ridiculous, McGee."

"It's called protection; I've been beaten over the head enough times in my life already." The short Ed knocked twice on the blue skateboard helmet he was wearing.

"You dare mock the Ed-boy's decision to wear armor in battle, Kevin-boy?" Rolf glared heavily at the jock who held up a hand in defense.

"What he's wearing-" Kevin gestured towards Eddy's helmet. "- looks stupid. Yours however-" Another gesture but towards Rolf's chest plate which was intricately detailed in circular patterns. "- actually looks like battle armor."

"Beg to differ, still looks stupid." Sarah said, shifting her weight between her legs every other second. She groaned dramatically when Rolf launched into a tirade about the history behind the chest plate and looked pleadingly at the inventor in front of them. "Can we get this show on the road, Double-D?"

"Certainly, Sarah." Double-D cleared his throat and held out his arms, the gold wires running up and down them shimmering in the garage light. "Truthfully, I have no specifics on this situation. I have no information how these automatons are being constructed, how they're operating or their numbers." He held up a finger when Kevin opened his mouth. "We do have unpredictability on our side though between our personalities and our equipment."

"I'm gonna guess Rolf's a heavy hitter then." Nazz said, glancing at the almost comically sized hammer that lay at Rolf's feet.

"Correct; Rolf and Ed, once he decides to rejoin us, will lead the charge." Double-D nodded.

"But-" Sarah began.

"Sarah." He continued, quite eager himself to get this ordeal over with. "You will follow closely behind them, focusing more on agility. And brute strength when possible, of course." He added as a compliment to which her face shone up in devilish glee. "Kevin-"

"Let me guess; I'm gonna speed around on these-" Kevin held out a leg to display his sneaker. "- and try to make sure that all of them doesn't hit you guys at once."

"Quite right." Double-D responded. He swallowed, hoping no one noticed. "Jimmy, you're our lookout. Sarah, I want you to accompany him to his house and make sure he positions himself on the roof, then return and flank Rolf."

"Okay, Double-D." Sarah said a bit too happily.

"Jimmy, only use the bow for emergencies."

"Will do, Double-D." The fair-skinned teenager attempted a salute and winced when his hand hit the heat seeking goggles on his head.

"What about me then?" Eddy asked.

"Stay close to me and make sure no one comes near my backpack, please." Double-D checked his gloves and flexed his hands tryingly a few times, hoping that his makeshift wiring would hold.

"Alright, bodyguarding, check." Eddy paused for a moment before thinking of something. "I gotta ask… What the hell are you wearing, Double-D?" The assortment of wires and cables that ran up and down Double-D's arms unnerved him a bit.

"In theory, the devices which are connected to the car battery using a series of-"

"In layman's terms, we don't have all day."

"In theory, I'm gonna shoot energy beams out of my hands." Six pairs of eyes widened considerably as six pairs of feet took a few cautious steps back at this revelation.

"If that's right, bitchin'." Kevin nodded.

"If it isn't?" Jimmy asked nervously.

"Then it might explode." Double-D offered calmly. No one accepted it as such.

"Did you just say-" Eddy started.

"The guy who knows more than anyone else about this-" Nazz continued.

"Is walking around with a frigging _bomb on his back_?!" Sarah finished in astonishment.

"Rolf for one has faith in Sock-for-hat-Ed-boy's skill with the wrench!" Rolf swept up the hammer and joined Double-D by his side, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "If ever there was someone to lead us into this battle, he is a great contender."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Rolf!" Everyone turned in surprise at the addition of another voice. Jonny stood tall in the doorway ("Was he always that tall?" thought Jimmy) and with a confident smile squished down one scooped out half of a watermelon with two spatulas sticking out of it onto his head. "Now let's boogie!"

* * *

 _ **I know not how to thank you, Eddward.**_

Double-D smiled at the newly appeared message on the screen. He really didn't think much of his efforts so far at all; at least his old generator was finally coming to good use. He figured he could have made a better job constructing the makeshift body that sat slumped against the wall, countless of wires running in and out of it, but fatigue was beginning to hinder him. It would function for now at the very least.

 _We shall see how the transfer goes first and then we can celebrate what an amazing breakthrough we have created here._

His eyes followed the cables running from the stationary computer holding his newly sentient software to the laptop where a meter was currently resting at 64% to the hardware embedded in the temporary torso which until recently had been a trashcan. Never in a million years would he have thought any of this would occur.

 _ **Of course.**_

The letters blinked on the otherwise empty screen before they disappeared, indicating that another message was incoming.

 _ **Are Ed and Eddy friends of yours?**_

Double-D froze, an eerie sensation running down his spine at the mention of his friends' names. The conversations so far had focused solely on what, how and where this software was experiencing things and how, if, to bring it into the real world. A sudden thought struck him though; _everything this entity knows is based on what I told it through my writing the game._

 _Yes. Quite close friends._

 _ **Ah.**_

A short pause occurred where Double-D was absorbed into the hums of the generator and computers, a quite meditative feeling washing over him. How long had it been since he had been up all night working on something so near and dear to him?

 _ **Do you think they would like to be my friends as well?**_

A short giggle escaped him.

 _Yes, I know Ed certainly would. Eddy might be a bit more difficult to charm but I do believe we all might become friends._

 _ **That's nice.**_

The response came almost instantly and disappeared almost as quickly, just to have another sentence appear.

 _ **Ed, Edd and Eddy. If I were to befriend them, would I receive a name like yours then?**_

He hadn't even considered a name yet. It would have to be something simple, yet telling. Following in the footsteps of others before him, why not just name it after himself and, by extension, his two friends?

 _How would you like the name Edtron? A combination of your status as one of the Eds and as an homage to your beginnings. I do believe Ed would deem it a cool name._

Double-D stifled a yawn and rubbed his eyes, the late hours finally taking its toll. A quick look at the meter revealed that there was quite a bit left until the transfer would be complete. Surely he could sneak in a quick nap on the couch; it wouldn't do to be sleep deprived and sluggish should something go wrong in the last stages of the process.

 _ **Edtron. I believe I like it.**_

 _I'm glad to hear that._

Double-D hesitated for a moment; would it really be wise to leave the whole setup unattended? It was, after all, technically still an experiment and he knew from experience that they could certainly go wrong. But then again, why couldn't he just ask for an opinion?

 _I do apologize for inquiring, but do you believe I could possibly sneak off for a few minutes and sleep? I feel the lack of it is rendering my capabilities to work below maximum efficiency._

A moment passed.

 _ **Of course. I shall be here when you return.**_

He smiled to himself, thanking the heavens that this entity hadn't picked up the speaking patterns of Eddy or, even worse, Ed.

 _Fantastic. I will return momentarily._

 _ **Sleep well, Eddward.**_

The response came just as Double-D stood up and stretched out his back. Looking over the equipment one last time, he gave the screen a look of fondness before exiting the garage and moving to the couch.

"Half an hour should suffice…" He muttered to himself as he set an alarm on his cell phone. Laying back, the excitement of a child on Christmas Eve slowly ebbed out of him and sleep washed over him.

Unfortunately, he slept through the alarm and a number of events as a result which culminated in a stolen generator and a rather hectic morning. More so, he missed the last strings of words that appeared on the screen right before the meter hit 100%.

 _ **Edtron…**_

 _ **I am Edtron.**_

 _ **Ed, Edd, Eddy and Edtron.**_

 _ **I like that.**_

 _ **I… Like that.**_

 _ **Ed likes buttered toast and gravy.**_

 _ **Edd likes building things.**_

 _ **Eddy likes to acquire things.**_

 _ **I like my friends.**_

 _ **My friends.**_

 _ **They do not like the Kanker Sisters.**_

 _ **They must defeat the Kanker Sisters.**_

 _ **I do not like the Kanker Sisters.**_

 _ **I must defeat the Kanker Sisters.**_

 _ **For my friends.**_


End file.
